Indonesia to build a maritime museum

The Indonesian government is planning to build a maritime museum in Jakarta in a bid to save the treasure, artifacts and valuable goods retrieved from the old sunken ships in Indonesia's waters, a minister said Monday.

"We have planned to build a museum, in particular, to store the valuable goods retrieved from many of ships sunk hundreds of years ago in our waters," Indonesian Maritime and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying after opening an oceanography conference in Bali.

The minister said that the Indonesian government would contact officials in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) regarding the plan.

Fadel said that Indonesia's waters have treasures and artifacts from sunken ships that were operated by Arabian, Chinese traders and the Dutch colonial administrator that ruled the country a hundred years ago.

Now, plenty of treasures and valuable artifacts are placed in several museums across the country, according to the minister.

"The would-be built maritime museum would gather all of those things and display for the public," he said.

An Indonesian agency tasked to retrieve those artifacts and treasures found valuable earthenware, ceramics from Chinese and Arabian trading ships that sank in waters off Cirebon, West Java recently, reports said.